Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom - Hudson Soft, 1990
NES

As 8-bit NES games go, this one was fun and very unique. It was an RPG-type game, where the goal was to collect and use items, talk to people, and mentally solve puzzles rather than to frantically push buttons. Essentially, your game was one mini-quest after another.

This game was also unique for its day in that you never saw the main character until the game's end. The screens were from Sir Cuke's point of view. The difficulty level wasn't terribly high, but it wasn't childishly simple either. There were three big mazes in the game - Parsley Forest, the cave on Carrot Plateau, and the Basement Maze of Minister Pumpkin's Castle. These were maddening to get through. While you can find a compass in the first maze, there are no maps available or any hints on how to get through. And the mazes are more than simply "find the exit". For example, in the Parsley Forest, you have to find the compass, a tin can, and a shovel BEFORE you take on the enemy character Saladron (who, by the way, is shaped like a dressing bottle and has a knife and fork for hands).

I told you this game was messed up.

The battles were very kid-friendly and the opponents weren't very scary (unless you were a veggie). Minister Pumpkin commanded the evil Farmies, a brigade of Dice-O-Matics, and other monstrosities like Bananda (a bunch of banana/snake monsters) and the aforementioned Saladron. Instead of using swords or magic spells (or even elemental attacks), your buddy Percy battled the opponent using "Finger Wars", a modified Rock-Paper-Scissors fight. If you lost in Finger Wars, you usually were sent back to the start of the level. Nobody really got hurt, and there was no violence to speak of, so no parents could complain.

Here's how the first level started out, just to give you an idea: you begin in a field where there is a red flower, nothing more. Moving forward, you enter the Celery Forest, where there is a crying baby Persimmon who desperately needs water. You can't help him now, so move forward again. You'll come to a crossroads in a spinach field, with a signpost that lists three destinations - Patch, Town, Lake. Choose the Lake and you'll arrive at Lake Quench. You can take enough water for three drinks. Looking and Checking, you'll spot the Fern Birds and their nest, which contains a gold coin. Return to the forest, give water to the baby, and he'll reveal himself as Percy, your travel buddy for the game, who constantly refers to you as "Boss". You'll use the rest of the water on Prince Lettuce and the Melons later in this level. Level four will bring you back to the spinach field from level 1 once again, but things have changed: Prince Lettuce was harvested, as were most of the Melons (with one exception: Watermelon was too ugly to be harvested by the Farmies - who knew they were so discerning?)

You and Percy have to solve every puzzle set before you, whether it's escaping from jail, rescuing Nutty (the chief of Peanut Village's daughter), or sneaking into Sopville disguised as Farmies. Percy is sometimes very helpful (selecting his name on the menu sometimes reveals a necessary clue you needed or solves the task at hand), but other times he'll complain at you or ask "What should we do, Boss?"

This game had to have the most unique mini-quests of any RPG. Here's an example from Level 2: Arrive in Orange Park, where an Garlic Wanderer asks you to get him coffee. You have one coin, so spend it at the coffee shop. Return with coffee, he'll demand a donut. You have no other money, so you can't buy one. Good thing, because the coffee shop is all sold out, and the donut shop is closed (but the Cabaret might have some). Talk to Mr. Pear of the Antiques shop. He'll ask you to deliver a letter to Miss Peachy at the Deli. Peachy gives you a sandwich. Return to the Antiques shop, and Mr. Pear will exchange your obsolete gold for coins. Search the strip of shops, and find the Cabaret Celery. Oh no, they're out of donuts too! You finally discover an Asparagus Donut in the trash in the restroom of the Cabaret. But by the time you find it, the Garlic has vanished (you find him in the jail in the next level). Once you can finally deliver the donut, the Garlic has forgotten what he wanted to tell you in the first place, so he gives you his treasure - a grenade he's carved from a bar of soap.

I've never had so much trouble finding and delivering a freakin' donut.

The castle level in particular reaches a frustration past even the "our Princess is in another castle" point. It seems like you have to chase Princess Tomato all over the castle, and she "just left" wherever you go. You chase her from a room, to the shower, to the garden, to the prison, and then she seems to have vanished without a trace... but there's a mysterious old lady Tomato... and if you don't do the events in the exact order, the next appearance of Madam Tomato won't happen until you do.

Hudson put a few references to some of their other games in here (subtle marketing technique? You make the call). In Nut Park, there is a statue of the infamous Hudson Bee, familiar to anyone who played a lot of 8-bit NES games. Percy even comments that although "the Hudson Bee means "Bonus" in other games... not this time, Boss." And when you're lost in Pumpkin's Castle, if you talk to Percy he'll comment, "I finished Milon's Secret Castle in two days! ...Just kidding."

There are also some Japanese cultural references. The antique shop carries a Maneki Neko (Japanese Lucky Cat), except there is a dollar sign instead of kanji on its golden charm. Kanji adorn Clover Juice and other items. The cops in the Jail level carry Japanese paper lanterns with kanji on them. The Resistance troops look like samurai, despite being named Major, Captain, Sergeant, and Chief.

Of course, small kids didn't understand all the humor in the game. The warden of the jail is none other than "Sgt. Pepper", who turns from a green pepper to a red pepper when he gets angry. Lisa, Princess Tomato's sister, has a picture in her room of her family. If you hit the picture, it will fall from the stand, but there's another behind it - a picture of Tom Cruise! Speaking of Lisa, I still don't understand how a Broccoli king can have a Lettuce son, and Tomato daughter, and a human daughter! I don't even wanna know how veggie genetics work... makes you wonder what the milkman looked like.

This game is definitely one to search for, despite its rarity. There are many secrets to look for (like turning the stone Apple statue red by making it blush, or seeing just how many times you can hit the mirror before it breaks), giving the game some nice replay value. The graphics, although simple by today's standards, are nicely detailed, with a slight anime flair. The music is well above average for its day. But this game's best feature is as an oddity to show your friends. Unless someone's actually played this game, the concept is unbelievable. After all, no other 8-bit game teaches you that Pumpkins are evil, everyone is prejudiced against Radishes, enemies accept the results of Rock-Paper-Scissors as final, and if you come upon a baby Orange in the shower, don't "check" or you'll be called a pervert.

NES cartridge (US) - featuring clay statues of some of the main characters and a bright pink label

Close-up of game cartridge label art

Japanese box art from http://www.chipple.net

BACK to Retro Neko
BACK to Articles
BACK to TRsRockin.com